Saturday was a night of exciting fights and it ended with Max Holloway becoming the Undisputed Featherweight Champion winning by TKO in the Round 3 in the Main Event at UFC 212: Aldo vs Holloway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The fight started with a very confident Aldo controlling the center of the octagon while the Hawaiian seemed a little bit anxious. In the first round Aldo was hitting Max Holloway with one-two combinations and even put the future champ in danger, but he could recover from the damage quick and keep his composure until the round ended.

Then after the second round Holloway was getting Aldo’s timing and was able to throw more combinations. By the end the second round Aldo was looking way more tired and Holloway more and more comfortable and even on the end of the round he taunted the champion in the final seconds of Round 2.

In the third round, It was Max controlling the center of the octagon when he dropped the Brazilian with a one-two combination to start the punishment. For almost two minutes, Holloway was all over Aldo on the ground until the referee stopped the fight by TKO at the end of Round 3.

Max Holloway
Source: Twitter

Max Holloway now has won 11 consecutive fights since losing to McGregor; Aldo tastes defeat for the first time since losing the belt against McGregor.

Right now it’s uncertain who could be the next challenger but if Aldo doesn’t get the rematch, a fight with Frankie Edgar could be the most logical step for the new champion.

Besides Max Holloway, Gadelha and Belfort Win, Too

On the co-main on a battle of title contenders for the women strawweight division, Claudia Gadelha made quick work against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, submiting her via rear naked choke in the very first Round.

At the beginning of the round Karolina was taking advantage of her reach keeping her distance and switching stances, then the Brazilian dragged Karolina to the ground and made quick work on taking her back and eventually got the submission win.

This is the second win for the Brazilian since losing to the actual champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and with this win solidified herself as the #1 contender in the division.

Earlier the veteran Vitor Belfort went into a three round war against another veteran, Nate Marquardt winning the fight via Unanimous decision.

On the first round Marquart started to throw combinations and kicks before taking the Brazilian to the ground, but Marquart was unable to do any significant damage and eventually they got up by the referee.

After that Belfort started to win more confidence and was able to corner Marquart with punches. The American was able to counter at some point and recovered.

In the final round, Belfort was countering Marquart with left hooks and uppercuts and controlled the round to finally secure the fight. Belfort was able to get the win and even he hinted before that this was going to be his last fight. On the post-fight interview he said that he wanted to fight at least 5 more times before retiring.

@vitorbelfort It would be a great honor and a dream come true to share the octagon with a legend such as yourself. Let’s do this.👊👍😉